Hunter won't say who is responsible for tens of thousands of dollars in campaign charges for personal expenses, but he says it wasn't him and he's broken no laws.

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"I was not involved in any criminal action," Hunter said in an interview Wednesday. "Maybe I wasn't attentive enough to my campaign. That's not a crime."

However, the Marine Corps combat vet and five-term lawmaker declined repeatedly to say who was responsible for making the charges.

"I didn't make any of those charges. None. None of those expenditures," Hunter insisted.

When asked who did — if it was his wife, Margaret, who was listed as his campaign manager — Hunter would not say.

"I'm not saying that. I'm saying that I didn't make any of those charges," Hunter said. "That's for an investigation. I'm just telling you that I didn't make any of those expenditures."

The San Diego Union-Tribune, which initially disclosed the questionable personal expenses on Hunter's campaign, reported in April 2016 only Duncan and Margaret Hunter had access to a campaign credit card. Only Duncan Hunter has access to the card now, according to the newspaper.

The Office of Congressional Ethics began a probe into Hunter's campaign expenses after the campaign logged an extraordinary range of questionable charges that total tens of thousands of dollars. They include flying a pet rabbit cross-country, registering his daughters in an Irish dance competition and paying for $1,300 of video games for his son.

The San Diego Union-Tribune catalogued the array of expenses, including an $800 oral surgery bill, purchases at Disneyland, and a family trip to Italy. Other charges included thousands of dollars in expenses at grocery stores, purchases at a surf & skate shop and repairs to a garage door at his home.

Margaret Hunter also received tens of thousands of dollars of income from the committee.

Hunter took out a personal loan and repaid all the questionable expenses prior to last November's election.

But OCE recommended that the House Ethics Committee conduct a full-scale investigation into the Hunter case. Only the Ethics Committee has the power to sanction a member for violations of House rules.

Ethics Committee Chairwoman Susan Brooks (R-Ind.) and Florida Rep. Ted Deutch, top Democrat on the panel, announced last week that it was holding off on its own probe at the request of the Justice Department, which is conducting a criminal investigation into the matter.

Hunter has publicly stated that he was not aware of any of the potentially improper expenses until he saw news reports about them. Hunter said he then ordered an audit and immediately repaid any charge that didn't seem legitimate.

"I'm not the treasurer, but I am the congressman. And the father. And the husband," Hunter told POLITICO. "The buck does stop with me. That's why I paid it back it back, and before the election."

Hunter said neither he and his wife nor his staff have been contacted by the Justice Department. And the California Republican does not believe there will be any criminal charges in this matter, noting again that all the campaign charges were promptly repaid.

"At some point, the justice system will work. I've got faith in that," Hunter said.

Hunter rejected any comparison of his case to that involving former Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., (D-Ill.), and his wife Sandi. The Jacksons pled guilty in 2013 to illegally diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign funds for personal use, including school tuition, mortgage payment and memorabilia from the late singer Michael Jackson. Both Jacksons went to prison for their crimes.

“He didn’t try to repay back what he thought were accidental expenditures, or incidental expenditures,” said Hunter of the former Illinois Democrat. “Jesse didn’t look at his FEC report and go, ‘Holy shit, what is that? I'm gonna pay that back.’”

Hunter, though, would not admit that campaign funds were used to pay his family's expenses, despite campaign records and news reports stating that, and repeated that he had "no knowledge" of any such actions.

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"I've been doing this for a while. I know what's appropriate and what's not," Hunter declared.

Hunter admitted that he was "embarrassed" by the scandal, but vowed to continue to go on with his work on the Armed Services Committee and other panels.